Taped from Dallas, TX
Airdate: June 6, 1987 (taped 05/29)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Bill Mercer
Can Simpson triumph over Perez? What happens when Borne encounters a newcomer? Will Madril tear Adias a new one, or will the heels find a way to win? Who makes his return? And what is new and improved with WCCW?
According to Mercer, “the Dingo Warrior is back on (WCCW)!”
NEW Opening montage.
Match 1 (non-title): WCWA Texas champion Dingo Warrior versus Barry “Big Bear” Collie
Highlights:
- Fritz joined the broadcast table for this match.
- Warrior dropkicked and powerslammed Collie for 2. There’s a reason you didn’t see Warrior throw a dropkick too often.
- When he scored with a cross body block, Warrior got another 2.
- He gave Collie a cross corner whip but came up empty on his follow-through.
- As the Dallas faithful chanted “Din-go,” their hero reversed a cross corner whip and backdropped Collie.
- He fed Collie a flying back elbow for 2.
- After he clotheslined Collie, Warrior applied a bear hug.
- Collie submitted; thus Warrior won at 3:38.
Rating: *
Summary: Showcase match for Warrior, but shouldn’t a “Big Bear” know how to counter a bear hug?
Match 2: Al Madril & Sweet Brown Sugar versus Brian Adias & “Flamboyant” Eric Embry
Highlights:
- SBS leapfrogged Adias twice and followed with a monkey flip.
- As he reversed a cross corner whip, SBS caught Adias with a flying headscissors for 2.
- Madril tagged in, but Adias scampered away.
- When Embry tagged in, he whipped Madril into the ropes.
- Adias took exception to the Dallas faithful and turned around so Madril blasted him.
- After he backdropped Embry, Madril popped an incoming Adias like some fresh popcorn.
- He dealt the heels a double noggin knocker and tagged in SBS.
- While Embry gave him a cross corner whip, SBS floated over, sprinted to the opposite corner, leaped to the second turnbuckle, and launched a flying fist.
- Adias tagged in and clotheslined SBS for 2.
- Tagging in, Embry suplexed SBS and followed with a diving head butt.
- Adias landed a knee drop for another 2.
- Rejoining the match, Embry scored with a lariat.
- He mounted the second turnbuckle but missed a second diving head butt.
- False tag Madril.
- Adias delivered another knee drop but only got 2 since SBS grabbed the bottom rope.
- Suplexing SBS, Adias got another 2.
- Embry tagged in, ruined SBS’ Friday night plans with an inverted atomic drop, but couldn’t get 3 thanks to a save by Madril.
- Baiting Madril into the ring, Embry illegally switched out with Adias. SNEAKY!
- Adias took down SBS for yet another 2.
- Evading a splash attempt by Adias, SBS made the…
- Hot tag Madril.
- He popped Embry’s head like a balloon as well as nailing an incoming Adias.
- Leapfrogging Madril, Embry bowled over referee Ralph Pulley.
- Madril flattened Embry with a flying shoulder block, but Pulley was OUT COLD on the floor.
- Upon getting manhandled back into the ring, Pulley only counted to 2 thanks to a save by Embry.
- With all four wrestlers in the ring, SBS headbutted Adias while Madril slammed Embry.
- Madril hooked a figure-four leg lock on Embry, yet Pulley was preoccupied with returning SBS to the babyface corner.
- Meanwhile, Adias mounted the top turnbuckle and decimated Madril with a flying knee drop. Crafty!
- Adias tagged in, made the cover, and pinned Madril.
- As a result, Adias and Embry won at 7:47.
Rating: ***
Summary: Well-orchestrated tag formula match where the heels used chicanery to steal the victory.
KERRY’S CORNER: From the locker room at Texas Stadium, Kerry recounts the most famous match of his career—winning the NWA World title from “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Highlights are shown, and Kerry informs us that he’ll return to the ring shortly and wants to win the World title in Texas Stadium again. Good segment that really shows Kerry’s personality.
Mercer details that Kevin was “defending the World title in Japan.” Realistically, Kevin competed in the New Japan Pro Wrestling IWGP Champion Series as follows:
06/01: Tagged with Tony St. Clair but lost to Nobuhiko Takada and Osamu Kido.
06/03 (Kitakyushu): Defeated Black Cat a.k.a. Huroki Sito, Jr.
06/04 (Kumamoto): Battled Kido to a double countout.
06/05 (Yanagawa): Tagged with St. Clair again but lost to Kido and Yoskiaki Fujiwara.
06/06 (Tosu): Tagged with Scott Hall and Konga the Barbarian but lost to Kido, Takada, and Fujiwara.
06/07 (Tottori): Tagged with St. Clair again and defeated Takada & Kazuo Yamazaki.
06/09 (Osaka): Defeated Kido.
06/10 (Shizuoka): Tagged with St. Clair again but lost to Takada and Yamazaki.
06/11 (Kumagaya): Tagged with St. Clair again but lost by DQ to Kido and Takada.
06/12 (Tokyo): Tagged with St. Clair again but lost to Masahiro Chono and Kengo Kimura.
On the plane from Dallas to Tokyo, Kevin’s prepared to take on the best while representing WCWA as the World champion.
Match 3: “Maniac” Matt Borne versus Ted Arcidi (w/ Percy Pringle)
Highlights:
- Kerry joined the broadcast table for this match.
- As you may remember Arcidi from his days in the WWF, he spent time in Stampede before joining the WCWA.
- Arcidi fed Borne a knee lift followed by a guillotine across the top rope.
- When he dealt Borne a back elbow, Arcidi got reversed on a cross corner whip but exploded with a clothesline.
- Borne escaped a military press and delivered a release German suplex for 2.
- Upon getting shotput out of the ring due to Arcidi’s kickout, Borne mauled Pringle at ringside to the delight of the Dallas faithful.
- He returned to the ring and dropkicked Arcidi.
- With Pringle in the ring, Borne knocked him into the middle of 1988.
- Referee Bronko Lubich called for the bell and threw the match out at 3:01.
Rating: *
Summary: Quick introduction to the WCWA for Arcidi as Borne gives his former manager some comeuppance.
FRITZ’S SCRAPBOOK: Fritz tells the origin of the Iron claw where he implements it on the stomach of Bobby Brown. We fast-forward to his application of it in his retirement match against King Kong Bundy. Next, he details how to apply the hold as highlights of Kevin versus Terry Gordy are shown. He describes the pain involved while his victorious pin of Bundy graces our screen. Needless to say, but Fritz didn’t mention that he was a dastardly heel during that era.
Match 4: Al Perez (w/ Gary Hart) versus Steve Simpson
Highlights:
- Perez, locked in an arm bar, tried to pin Simpson by using the ropes; however, referee Ralph Pulley caught and admonished him for it.
- As Hart jumped onto the apron to dispute Pulley’s authority, Perez cheated like a mofo.
- He fed Simpson a shoulder block, slammed him, landed a knee drop, and got 2.
- When Simpson reversed a cross corner whip, he ate a knee on his follow-through.
- He reversed another cross corner whip and dealt Perez a back elbow.
- After he dropkicked Perez, Simpson gave him a cross corner whip followed by a monkey flip.
- Perez used momentum and the trunks to send Simpson between the ropes to the floor.
- While Perez tried to suplex him back into the ring, Simpson landed on top.
- That should have earned Simpson the victory, but Hart placed Perez’s boot on the bottom rope. Clever!
- Distracted by Hart, Simpson got rolled up, and Perez pulled the trunks.
- 1-2-3.
- Perez won at 9:05.
Rating: **
Summary: Lots of mat work dominated the opening minutes, and these two worked well enough together to have a decent match; nevertheless, I expected more out of this.
Conclusion: First, some serious money has been invested in the production of the show. Despite the new opening sequence, music, and graphics, that’s not all. The camerawork and lighting have also been changed. On top of that, adding either Fritz or Kerry as a color commentator breathes some much-needed fresh air into the show. Not to besmirch Mercer, but it’s great to have him talk to someone else besides the audience. If I can find a fault with the production, Kerry’s articulation needs work as he was awfully repetitive.
Second, this was a fun episode with the Perez-Simpson and tag matches. Arcidi became a strong heel by both aligning himself with Pringle and surviving against Borne. Lastly, Warrior’s back, but for how long?
Next week, the Fantastics square off against Embry and Boy Tony.
TV Rating: NONE
Stay tuned for WCCW 06-13-87!
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